But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.  – Psalm 5:11 (NLT)

Have you noticed how easy it is to not be joyful? Maybe you’re worried if the boy in Chemistry class likes you and you see him talking to another girl and it makes you sad. Or perhaps you don’t get the solo in the choir and you feel so sad. It’s easy to let circumstances determine your happiness. This is bad because you can’t always control your circumstances.

Life isn’t always going to go your way, but you can choose joy in the midst of your circumstances. A good way to do this is by spending time in God’s presence. Do things like reading your Bible. Also, reminding yourself of how good God is can help you change your perspective.

Think of the times he’s protected you or walked with you through difficulty. As you love God and get close to Him, He can be your source of joy. Your life can be filled with joy if you choose to love God and get close to Him. Your circumstances might not always be perfect, but you can choose joy in the middle of what is going on around you.

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.  – 1 Peter 1:6 (NLT)

Life has lots of ups and downs. There are days when you feel like everything is going great and others when it feels like your entire world is collapsing around you. Life can be really strange that way.

Today’s Bible verse gives us hope in discouragement. It shows us that there is always joy ahead. We can always find joy when we focus our attention on Jesus. He gives us hope for each day. Through Jesus, we know that our future is secure. We know that He paid the price for sin, sickness and eternal death. Jesus is our reason for joy and hope.

That’s why in the middle of the trials that we face we can have joy. It’s not that we’re happy about the trial but rather we take comfort in our hope. We know that Jesus will see us through whatever we’re facing. That’s what gives us joy. Jesus has been there already and He helps us make it through another day.

Today’s Truth: Jesus has already been through what you’re facing and tells you that you can make it another day.

So today regardless of what you’re facing, you can be encouraged. Jesus is your source of hope. Whether you’re experiencing one of life’s highs or one of the lows you can know that you have joy. It’s a joy that’s going to last because it’s based on what Jesus did and who we are in Him.

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. – Hebrews 2:14 (NLT)

This week we’ve been talking a lot about contentment. We’ve focused on working to be content regardless of our circumstances.

Today, however, we’re going to look at why we can be content, even if things are not going the way we would have planned.

Hebrews 2:14 shows us that Jesus did something amazing when He died. He broke the power of the devil and the power of death. That is such amazing news. Why?

It means that even in the middle of all the uncertainty in the world around us, we know that Jesus broke the power of death and the devil. We don’t have to fear death because Jesus defeated it. We don’t have to fear the devil, Jesus defeated him.

So we can live free from fear, content because Jesus broke the power of death and the devil in our lives.

Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. – Romans 8:2 (NIV)

How do you feel when it’s Friday? Do you feel relieved? Maybe you know that you don’t have school for a few days and get the chance to get caught up on sleep and schoolwork. In a way, Friday is a type of freedom for students. You know that you have two days to relax and catch up.

The feeling you get on a Friday is only a small fraction of the freedom that you experience in Christ. Today’s verse tells us that we’ve been set free from sin and death. We are no longer bound by sin, we’re not held back by our sinful nature and it’s desires. Rather we’ve been set free. Sin no longer has a hold on us.

This freedom that we experience in Christ is way greater than any weekend, school break or holiday. It’s life changing. You’ve been made completely and totally free from the power of sin because of what Jesus did. That’s the most freeing news there is!

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love – Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

Have you ever watched a friend’s boyfriend on social media and become jealous? You see the sweet things your friend’s boyfriend does for her on social media and feel like a failure in relationships because your boyfriend forgot your anniversary.

It can be really easy to lose patience with others. Sometimes it’s not even that the other person did something wrong, but rather they didn’t meet an expectation you had for them. In our relationships with others, we are challenged to practice patience.

It can be hard to be patient with someone who doesn’t do what you want them to do. Maybe they do things a lot slower than you’d like and the waiting drives you crazy. In all our relationships, we are challenged to practice giving patience to others.

Today’s Truth: God wouldn’t tell us to do something if He didn’t give us the ability to do it.

Being patient is really hard. We want to see instant results in our lives and instant change in the lives of others. When that doesn’t happen, it can be difficult to keep a good attitude. It is something we can do, however. We can walk in patience toward other people. God wouldn’t tell us to do something if He didn’t give us the ability to do it. So today, choose to walk in patience toward others and give them the grace to make mistakes.